1UP Spends some alone time with Blizzard's StarCraft II.

continued, (page 4 of 5)

CARRIER HAS ARRIVED!

Now that I've had time to assemble my field report on the recent Terran developments, we will use this information to better prepare our own strategies should we come to blows with their heavy, sluggish machinery. As many steps as the Terrans take, however, the Protoss take two. We are ever vigilant, never resting in the comforts of past victories. We have many concerns in this world, and the Terrans are merely one of them. The Zerg -- that blight in the blackness of space -- is a constant threat, for they are savage, ruthless and their appetite for destruction is insatiable. If either of those groups think they'll catch us napping, with our defenses down, they'll have a rude surprise in store. The Protoss are never caught unawares. Our Observers are everywhere, lighting up at the slightest enemy movement, while our holy army stands at the ready, the fires of battle flowing through our veins. We have also moved with the times, and are ready to strike at the hearts of our enemies with both elegance and precision. The streamlined Protoss army has seen its own improvements, and when next we meet with our insistent foes, I think they'll be surprised to see that this particular wall pushes back.

DISCLAIMER: The following statistical details were siphoned from the pre-Alpha version of Starcraft II, and are provided purely for entertainment purposes and pre-Blizzcon theory/strategy-mongering. All details, like timing and units produced are subject to and highly likely to change after extensive play balancing. Neither 1UP nor Blizzard makes any guarantee toward the long-term reliability of this information. Now that we've settled that, go get 'em, tiger!

Nexus (100) [Numbers after unit name -- when known -- indicates time to build]

As we settled in to Blizzard's cozy LAN set-up, grabbed hold of the Logitech MX518 optical mice, and proceeded to fire up some games on the 128x128 Bel'Shir jungle map modeled after the classic Lost Temple map, a distinct shot of energy crept up our collective spines as we began the first ever multiplayer games of Starcraft II. What was once only recently splashed across enormous screens in Seoul, South Korea was now in control in the palms of my hands, and this was nothing short of amazing. Four months ago I never knew this game -- the sequel to my favorite game of all time -- existed, and now I was playing it. With me (and also against me) were Jeff Green and Sean Molloy, editor-in-chief and managing editor of Games For Windows, respectively, and it was up to us and the small handful of European journalists assembled to put Blizzard's game through its paces.

The first thing I noticed when I created a game was how natural it felt. During Blizzard's 'real-time' demo in Seoul, without any heads-up display or unit-placement grid visuals, it was difficult to imagine how the game actually played. Sure we got to see a bunch of units in action, but we really didn't see any footage of them being generated, so this was another first for us. Double-clicking the four Probes that lined the base of my Nexus selected them all, and right-clicking on the minerals put them to work. Some of the shortcuts for unit-building have changed though, so the key I pressed to build a new Probe didn't work, forcing me to press the build-Probe icon. Not a big deal, obviously, just something that took a little getting used to since it affected far more units and structures than just the Probe.

Starcraft II producer Chris Sigaty wasn't kidding when he said that 3D makes a world of difference in the game. We all know and love and remember our time with the original Starcraft, which is still one of the best real-time strategy games out there, but with each of the original 2D sprites only having about 4 frames of animation each, seeing the redesigned original units come to life alongside all of the new units is exciting. Unlike, say, Star Wars Episode IV versus Episode I, the new-school reinvention of Starcraft does not disappoint. I don't remember if you could set the rallying point on a mineral deposit in the original Starcraft, but in II you can, so any Probes generated by your Nexus will automatically go harvest minerals and gas for you. The dev team has also added an 'idle unit' button, so you can easily track any units not pulling their weight.

Reaver

I wasted little time gathering minerals, as I'd spent some time before the session brushing up my rusty Starcraft skills with the original, and so was somewhat proficient getting my build order started. Climbing up the first tier of the tech tree was like riding a bicycle. Pylon, Forge, Stargate, Photon Cannons in that order, all the while producing more and more Probes to gather resources until my Pylon cap was maxed. As the first few Photon Cannons started warping into view, I began generating Zealots to help preoccupy any enemies that should come my way while my Cannons lay down covering fire. By 'enemies' I mean Jeff and Sean. Sean, in the long run, did a little bit better than Jeff did, mostly because I didn't bother surrounding his early attempts at creating a base with a suffocating grid of Photon Cannons as I did with Jeff. Jeff, so rusty I could hear his brain creak, was unable to get anything going thanks to my ruthless perimeter of Cannons, and while I didn't eliminate his base outright, I did squash any uppity attempts at rebellion (usually when he sent three or four hard-earned Zealots at one of my Photon Cannons) by keeping a cloaked fleet of massive overkill at the ready. Nothing quite like thinking you may be able to eke your way through someone's phalanx of Photons, only to wake an entire, invisible fleet hanging by overhead.

Stargate (60)

Requires Twilight Council
- Warp in Phoenix: Air and ground attack (45)
- Warp in Tempest (previously known as Carrier): Air and ground attack (60)
- Warp in Warp Ray: Air and ground attack (90)
- Warp in Star Relic: Force Field, Detonate, Cloak Field (60)
- Warp in Mothership: Air and ground attack (140)